It’s NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to make a Brave Yes business move — a change, a pivot, creating a YES offer, or implementing the Brave Yes mindset — when you are bogged down by stress, burnout and overwhelm.
Running a business often means a non-stop to-do list. We never reach the end. There’s always more. More to do. More to dream up. More to make happen. More to build.
At the center of all that, is you — the CEO and founder, the visionary behind the business.
And your energy, your capacity and your needs.
The idea of Work-Life Balance seems kind of simple compared to the tangled up threads running through a CEO and her business.
Add to that the possibility of living through a pandemic while also caring for yourself, pets, a house and a family.
In other words, if you’re exhausted, it’s no wonder.
This week, on the Brave Yes CEO Show, I”m talking about what it means to hold more than our business — what happens as a result and why it’s important to honor where we are and build a business from that space.
Listen here or keep reading below.
As founders, we’re not just juggling business and life. There are so many nuances running deep and leaving ruts in our days.
Among my own clients, here’s what they have been juggling beyond their own business:
— Covid mitigation
— Covid recovery
— Health scares and crisis
— Home Repair issues and fiascos
— Health care bills
— Mental Health matters among spouses and children
— Aging, ailing parents
— Job loss
— Inflation
— Loneliness
— Virtual Learning Days
As we are juggling all of that, we’re also juggling the cleaning, the meals, the laundry and scheduling all the appointments, filling out all the paperwork, making sure all the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed.
And, in the back of our mind is this … how are we going to bring in the income next month?
And my clients aren’t alone.
Last August, I was gleefully looking forward to FINALLY, FINALLY having 5 full weekdays to do my creative work and serve clients.
And maybe also take time for myself.
But the week my kids returned to school — a school that we quickly learned was not right for them — my husband had a heart attack, toppling everything we knew to be true. Shock. Despair. Fear.
And while I still ran my business, I think I made it look too easy. I was tired of being strong. I needed help. So I got help.
I didn’t share that I made a few changes in my life to make it through. Thankfully my business was doing well enough I could re-hire my house cleaner. I shored up my own foundation a bit by taking on an additional bigger client with more consistency and predictability — which was a very good move for me generally. I learned to lean on people.
Until then I was going it alone. Carrying the burdens quietly.
This is not how we create an environment for Braver Business moves. In my Braver CEO framework, I focus a lot on what it means to empowering yourself to do the hard things.
But that all must start with a foundation of wellbeing … A foundation of YES, I have the energy to do this now.
I’m rejecting the idea that we need to be stronger, push harder and keep trying to get where we want to be — without first acknowledging that this is hard, hard, hard stuff we’re doing and making sure that capacity planning — which takes into account where we are, who we are and what our life circumstances are — as we plan out the future of our businesses.
Your business needs to serve you and your whole life.
You are holding so much more than a business as the CEO of your little Queendom. This notion that all you have to juggle is life and work over simplifies it all. I reject themes of hustling, of showing up no matter what because frankly, you are holding so much more than a marketing plan in your head.
No wonder you forget what you need to do on a Monday. The weekend was filled with chaos.
Take a moment to hold space for yourself, for the many parts of your life that are weighing you down, holding you back, keeping you stalled. Honor that this is your life right now. You are where you are. It is what it is.
To invest in your capacity and planning a business that honors where you are and who you are right now and that you may not have the full on support, the thriving environment, the team, the capabilities you need right now to BE the business you want to have in the future. You are growing through the gap and going through your own expansion slowly, on your own terms. There’s power in that.
Let’s focus on building your capacity AND a plan that honors your capacity. There are so many creative ways to do business. You don’t have to be locked into one vision. It’s far easier to create a vision that is doable than it is to create a vision that deflates your passion and your desire for change.
Creative flow will not show up if you are feeling zapped emotionally or energetically.
This is the biggest obstacle I see with my clients who struggle with accessing creative flow consistently.
Let’s hop on a ZOOM call and discuss the ways in which you can both build your capacity and confidence this year to see your Brave Yes dream through to the finale. Schedule here.
